A new Study provides critical insights into ice mass loss in Antarctica. After the natural warming that followed the last Ice Age, there were repeated periods when masses of icebergs broke off from Antarctica into the Southern Ocean. A new data-model study led by the University of Bonn (Germany) now shows that it took only a decade to initiate this tipping point in the climate system, and that ice mass loss then continued for many centuries. Accompanying modeling studies suggest…
Fear is essential for survival, but must be well regulated to avoid harmful behaviors such as panic attacks or exaggerated risk taking. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have now demonstrated in mice that the brain relies on the body’s feedback to regulate fear. The brain’s insular cortex strongly reacts to stimuli signaling danger. However, when the body freezes in response to fear, the heartbeat slows down leading to attenuated insular cortex activity. Processing these opposing signals helps…
… discovered at University of Notre Dame. Researchers at the University of Notre Dame discovered a new type of cell in the heart that may help regulate heart rate, and could be an important key in understanding certain types of congenital heart defects and other diseases that involve the heart. The cells, which were termed nexus glia, resemble critical glial cells called astrocytes in the brain, according to research completed in the lab of Cody Smith, the Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher…
Single-atom dimer electrocatalyst for green hydrogen production. The limited reservoir of fossils fuels and the ever-increasing threats of climate change have encouraged researchers to develop alternative technologies to produce eco-friendly fuels. Green hydrogen generated from the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity is considered a next-generation renewable energy source for the future. But in reality, the overwhelming majority of hydrogen fuel is obtained from the refining of fossils fuels due to the high cost of electrolysis. Currently, the efficiency of…
Two-dimensional MXene has been a rising star in the energy world as they can store energy fast. But their unstable voltage output limits their applications. A collaborative research team led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently developed battery-like electrochemical Nb2CTx MXene electrodes with stable voltage output and high energy density by using a high-voltage scanning strategy. These latest findings may lead to a breakthrough in inventing the powerful battery of the next generation. The research was…
New technology makes production of complex metallic objects at the nanoscale possible. In recent years 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has established itself as a promising new manufacturing process for a wide variety of components. Dr Dmitry Momotenko, a chemist at the University of Oldenburg, has now succeeded in fabricating ultrasmall metal objects using a new 3D printing technique. In a paper published together with a team of researchers from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)…
International research team led by Kiel develops a new method for the generation of controllable electrical explosions. Theoretically, it only takes 450 grams of this material to lift an elephant: “Aerographene” owes this ability to its unique structure at the nano level. Visually similar to a black foam, it actually consists of a finely-structured tubular network based on graphene with numerous cavities. This makes it extremely stable, conductive and almost as lightweight as air. An international research team led by…
E-mobility shapes the life of more and more people, and e-bikes and e-scooters play an essential role in it. The employed rechargeable batteries become smaller and lighter, the efficiency of the electrified drive train and the cruising range increase. The battery chargers, however, struggle to keep pace with this development. Scientists at the Institute of Robust Power Semiconductor Systems (ILH) and the Institute of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ILEA) at the University of Stuttgart have now developed a charger…
Research offers new understanding of lung development, diseases that affect millions. Researchers have compiled the most comprehensive road map of the protein composition of human lungs, providing a clearer picture of the healthy development of this essential organ that made terrestrial life possible. The study, led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, describes how thousands of molecules are modulated in a coordinated fashion during the formation of pulmonary tissue. The findings are expected to provide…
Research led by UT Southwestern and the University of Washington could lead to a wealth of drug targets. UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights into the ways pairs or groups of proteins fit…
Liquids containing ions or polar molecules are ubiquitous in many applications needed for green technologies such as energy storage, electrochemistry or catalysis. When such liquids are brought to an interface such as an electrode – or even confined in a porous material – they exhibit unexpected behavior that goes beyond the effects already known. Recent experiments have shown that the properties of the employed material, which can be insulating or metallic, strongly influence the thermodynamic and dynamic behavior of these…
Max Planck Institute’s researchers highlight the mechanism that enhances toxicity of pathogens in the human cell. For the first time, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, have discovered how the structure of the toxin becomes more ordered when interacting with actin, one of the main components of the cytoskeleton. It appears that the docking of ExoY to actin induces a stabilisation downhill at the toxin…
A new NASA-led study is the first to document changing atmospheric ammonia (NH3) concentrations in Africa over an extended period. Ammonia is an air pollutant which can lead to heart and lung related illness. When present in excess in an ecosystem, it can make soil more acidic and hinder plant growth. Ammonia is emitted naturally from soils and vegetation fires, but agricultural activities such as raising livestock and using fertilizer are also major sources. As agriculture scales up to meet…
Magnetene could have useful applications as a lubricant in implantable devices or other micro-electro-mechanical systems. A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering and Rice University have reported the first measurements of the ultra-low-friction behaviour of a material known as magnetene. The results point the way toward strategies for designing similar low-friction materials for use in a variety of fields, including tiny, implantable devices. Magnetene is a 2D material, meaning it is composed of a single layer of atoms. In this respect,…
For years, researchers believed that the smaller the domain size in a ferroelectric crystal, the greater the piezoelectric properties of the material. However, recent findings by Penn State researchers have raised questions about this standard rule. Ferroelectric materials possess spontaneous electric dipole moments that can be reversibly flipped by applying an electric field. Domains are areas in the ferroelectric crystal that have the dipole moments aligned in the same direction. Piezoelectricity is a material property where the crystal generates electrical…
Researchers reveal that aluminum implantation doping in p-type bipolar semiconductors creates defects many layers deeper than the implantation site. Silicon carbide (SiC) unipolar semiconductors are in wide commercial use, but their operations are limited by a trade-off relationship between breakdown voltage and specific resistance of the drift layer, or specific on-resistance. Including a super junction structure, which refers to an arrangement of n and p layers in trenches in the drift layer, or enabling bipolar operation in the device provides…
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